Does anyone know how to get rid of this. I'm sure i don't use it and only noticed today looking at my task manager just after turning my lap top on, being idle it was still using a lot of cpu!
I just looked online and it seems it cannot be disabled.

Possible solution: https://www.howtogeek.com/265027/how-to ... indows-10/
Sure-fire solution: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation

When idle, Cortana uses 0% of CPU (it only occupies Memory)

@ ofnuts. lol yes, I am going to do something like that but when I get a new computer. Thanks for the links.
@ dinasset I went back and had a look and mine was using the cpu not memory. By idle I meant I hadn't turned on the internet yet. No other programs except what comes on at startup. Might be because it was still starting up? Anyway I don't want it and I have looked around, most people are unhappy with the addon/app which was thrust upon us with windows 10.
I was hoping it was a program that I could delete but it not in the programs list.

Unfortunately, MS stopped that hack to the registry, it no longer works.

Wit the "pro" version, the "policy" hack should still work (otherwise there would be a lot of very powerful and irate corporate customers).

A solution is to rename the executable, but it's a bit radical (and breaks local search as well).

Sallyanne, I think you're right to wait until you have a new computer.
On my PC every time I click CtrAltCanc (IT) to get the list of running activities, Cortana occupies 0% CPU; my PC is approx one year old. I've always the internet connection active. Cortana comes on only when clicking on bottom left Win key (then Cortana says: "ask me something", but I do not use it)

Thank you everyone for your answers.

Don't you find it weird that we are now in a time where computers are really evolving backwards and people cling to their existing stuff as long as they can (be it WinXP, Win7, the last version of the MacBook Pro where you can still change the batteries, the last waterproof Moto G that fits in a pocket...). All the new stuff I have seen recently has very little added value for me and a lot of added value for the company that sells it.

In the same distressing vein, a linguist doing a study of words frequency in Google docs found that we are no longer talking about "progress" but only of "innovation", and this happened at the same time in all western languages (French, English...). In Russian it happened after the fall of the Iron Curtain. For thos who read French: http://www.pourlascience.fr/ewb_pages/a ... -38081.php

Ofnuts, your underlined change in wording (from "progress" to "innovation") is unfortunately true also in the human relationships: a lot of "innovations" but no more "progresses", alas!...

I did the registry hack when Windows 10 first came out. It's still working fine on my AMD machine with Windows 10 Home Edition. Cortana went on a permanent vacation!